Wow. From what you've written, you've pegged OP as an absolute shit writer. What makes you think he'd write "top 10" articles? You assume he'd be "pumping out travel gibberish to fill travel blogs." That's not very nice to assume.

I went abroad for a year an continued in my field of writing and teaching. I came back and didn't have trouble getting a job -- In my field -- even though I live in a town that has a very low supply of work and a high demand. I kept working in my field. I had my vacation, but I made it a working-vacation.

If OP can continue to work in the field and continue to publish IN ADDITION to working as an English teacher he'll be fine when he comes back. And he won't starve when he's abroad either if he works a teaching job. So long as he continues to publish to stay in the field it won't really matter if he's making a living on it or not.

I really don't think you should let that fear and those stories hold you back. While you're there, keep writing! You could submit to travel mags, keep a blog, do writing work for companies there, write a book (!!) etc. etc. This could be a wonderful opportunity for you as a writer and journalist. When you come home and start applying to new jobs, maybe you'll have a much longer list under the publications section of your CV. On top of that, I also think you could sell the TEFL skills to the employer in your cover letter.

Man, I'm making myself want to do this. I'm a writer, too. Not journalism, but still, any writing can happen anywhere. And you can totally keep up with it if you want to.

So long as you don't treat your time there as a vacation neither will your future employers.

I disagree. OP would simply address the TEFL experience in his cover letter and sell it to the employer. Also, this could be a really incredible experience for him as a writer. Who knows, going on an adventure could have him writing a blog or working at a newspaper or submitting articles to travel mags. If he wants to keep up with his writing and publishing there's no reason he couldn't.

Actually, that's not true whatsoever. The skills gained through teaching are highly desirable and transferable. And they translate well into any writing and publishing job. If OP has a good deal of journalism experience and one teaching job it's not going to make it so he can only ever apply to teaching jobs in the future. PLUS, if he has TEFL experience that's even MORE desirable because he'll have more experience with diversity than other applicants which is likewise highly desirable.

I thought that because I began the sentence with "let's say the victim..." I had made it clear that in these hypothetical situations there wasn't consent. I know that these conditions don't mean the the sex was for sure not consensual.

Wow. I've never heard that before. But a quick google search confirms and denies that number. Some websites say 1 in 5...One says 1 in 20. The same is true for the girls. I see numbers ranging from 1 in 3 to 1 in 6. It's so widely unreported that I guess it's hard to know true numbers. That is so...I don't even know what word...heartbreaking. What does that say about our society? Civilized. Ha!

Thanks for asking. I agree that it's hard to understand this ignorant point of view. Many don't understand the terms of consent. For example, let's say the victim may not say no, or may not fight back, or may be aroused, or they could be drunk or on drugs, or they had sex with the person before...in these instances (and it's just to name a few) the sex was not consensual, but a lot of people don't understand that. It's hard to believe but there's still a large number of people who believe "the victim was asking for it" or "but you were aroused" or "that's what you get for (fill in the blank)" or "if you didn't want it why didn't you fight them off or say no?" Or any number of excuses people give to the perpetrator.

In my particular circumstance, I had gotten absolutely hammered drunk and passed out. I woke up to a guy having sex with me. I legit woke up and it was happening. The police dismissed me because I didn't fight him off or scream no. I was honestly in shock and still totally drunk and groggy when I woke up. I couldn't really put it together what was happening if that makes any sense. When I told a friend later she said "I'm sorry you had to learn that lesson the hard way." A lot of my other friends simply told me flat out that it wasn't rape because I had been drinking and you know, "that's what happens." As if somehow me being drunk was me saying "I want to be raped, please."

That's right! Because now it reads like this: "The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”
It's a penetration-based definition from what I understand.

What I was referring to was that men are (according to our society) not rape-able because they should be able to protect themselves. I would imagine that a woman could rape a man if there was previous, but not on-going consent, or if she threatened him in some way if he didn't have sex with her, or statutory rape incidents (I don't want to get into a semantics argument, but just picture a 19 y/o girl with a 12 y/o boy...and many would say he's "the man," but really he's not old enough to consent). I would also imagine that many men are raped by other men.
If you want more info on men being raped by women check out this article: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/09/living/chris-brown-female-on-male-rape/

Wow. This is an incredible question! It wasn't until 2012 that men were even included in the US government's definition of rape! Interestingly, the reaction to rape is pretty much the same for men and women. As a survivor myself, I can't imagine how hard it would be for a man...especially if he came...which of course doesn't mean there was consent. :'(

It's a sad fact that most men don't report rape, even more so than females. It's suggested that 1 in 10 men are raped before they leave college, but if would imagine it's much higher. It could be that it's not part of our cultural scrips that men are rape-able. :(

He sounds immature and I think you've made the right decision. I recently went through a break up and what helped me was just getting my mind off it in anyway possible.
I've been in a relationship like the one you're describing and I'm much happier without the dude. You're angry now, but that will fade. As will the hurt.
Be strong!